A Plague Of The Heart
by Whouffle
Summary: The Doctor, recieving an unexpected text from Clara, goes to investigate. The problem, it seems, is far worse than he thought. {Rated M for triggers. Currently a one-shot with the triggers blood and abuse. If further chapters are added, I will include the triggers at the beginning of each chapter.}


_AN: Hi guys, I don't think it's physically possible for me to write fluff anymore, and this is my first M rated fic. There's no smut (as of yet, I'm not sure if I'm going to change that or not. I'm probably too young to write decent smut) but a lot of triggers, and potential triggers if I decide to carry this story on rather than leaving it as a one shot, hence the M rating. Let me know if you want me to continue it, and if not, reviews are always appreciated!_

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The Doctor had kept the mobile that Martha had given him all those years ago, and slowly, during the course of his regeneration (with much help from Clara) he had learnt how to use it. He had been given Clara's number, and had since learnt how to use emoticons, send picture texts, and mess around texting her at all hours: much to her dismay.

However, never had he received a text from Clara, not like this one anyway. Normally, he texted her first and she complained, but this time was different, and he stared at the phone curiously.

_I know I messed up, and I'm sorry. I didn't want you to punish me, but I deserved it. I didn't tell them how it broke; I just said I fell over. Nothing's going to happen. I'm sorry._

Something concerned him deeply, what had broken? Who had punished her? What had she done to deserve it? What could his perfect Clara have possibly done to deserve punishing? For once, he didn't text her back. Instead, he wanted to investigate properly, just in case his Clara was hurt.

With a frown, he expertly piloted the TARDIS, landed the ship around the corner from her flat, and walked outside. He didn't knock, or wait to be invited him. He opened the door and went inside, looking around curiously. Everything seemed the same, but so much quieter. It wasn't right. Clara's home was normally full of happiness and laughter. Today, however, he could sense something was wrong. Making his way through her flat, he gently called out her name, hearing it echo in the flat around him. And then there was a clattering of pans from the kitchen and he ran through, sonic at the ready. But he just saw Clara standing with a smile on her face, trying to make a soufflé. And the one thing that stood out more than anything else was the bandage on her nose. Her nose was broken, that's what her text was talking about. He approached Clara quickly and wrapped his arms around her from behind, causing her to scream and turn to face him. When she saw it was the Doctor, she relaxed a little and smiled gently.

"Doctor…" She whispered. "I didn't expect you to be here, I'm trying to make a soufflé, do you want to help? Maybe it'll turn out right." She said, forcing a smile back onto her face.

"Clara, what's been happening?" He asked, pulling her closer to him and crouching a little to examine her nose more closely. He was incredibly concerned about her. Why didn't she notice something was wrong? "Clara, your nose is broken, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" She beamed, happiness positively radiating off her face. He knew it was fake, she was hurt and he wanted to help. It broke his hearts, knowing she wasn't letting him help. And he sighed as she pushed him away nervously. "But you need to go upstairs; my boyfriend's going to be here any minute. He won't be happy if you've come visiting out of nowhere. He doesn't even know about you yet, never had the chance to tell him." She said, pushing him backwards a little further. The Doctor furrowed his brow, but reluctantly nodded, and headed into her bedroom to wait and see what happened.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a strong man stood in the doorway, towering a foot above Clara. The Doctor swallowed nervously; something was definitely wrong here. With a deep breath, he sat where he was and watched the scene before him unfold.

"Where did you get that bandage from?" He asked, his voice dark and threatening. Before she could reply, he grabbed her by the shoulders and picked her up, causing the Doctor to wince in pain. It was awful, watching this. The man brought his face closer to Clara's and raised his voice as he began to yell at her. "I told you not to tell anyone, if you've gone and told anyone then that'll be it for you. You'll be under lock and key. Actually, you are on lock and key, starting now." He said, before hitting her in the face, harder, and dropping her back on the floor. Clara curled up, putting one hand protectively over her nose as it began to bleed badly again, using the other hand to fish out her mobile.

"I t-texted you…" She stammered, handing him the phone unblinkingly as he opened it up to look at the message, his face twisting into even more anger and hatred. This time, she really didn't know what she'd done wrong. But she knew something was wrong as soon as he began to crush the phone and it practically cracked in his hands before he smashed it to the floor, causing Clara to flinch away further.

"Who the _hell _is this Doctor you've been talking to behind my back? Are you dating someone else, going off and whoring yourself to everyone you see? Clara Oswald, what have I told you? Don't you ever listen?" He asked, before kicking her, hard, in the stomach. Her eyes widened in pain and fear as she doubled over, curling up to try and protect herself further. He could only see the top of her head and her back now, but he didn't stop. He picked her up by her hair, letting her dangle until her arms dropped from her face and he could see the damage he'd done. Her nose, now broken in two places, was at an odd angle. Blood was streaming down her face and pouring from her mouth as she choked back tears.

When he put Clara back down, her legs crumpled beneath her and he slapped her once more, a glare shot at her before he turned to leave.

"I'm getting the locks changed in the morning, now clean yourself up. If I'm sober when I get back and there's a drop of blood on this floor, I'll kill you."

And with a slam of the door, he was gone.

The Doctor raced out to Clara's side, his hearts racing. He'd feared for his life and Clara's whilst he hid, and for once in his life he had been too afraid to act, too afraid to help _his _Clara. What that man had done was horrible, and now he knew exactly what was wrong, he was determined to help her. He hated himself for not getting involved, but the man was surely stronger than him. If he caught him there, Clara could've been hurt even more. That was going to be his excuse, otherwise the guilt would eat him alive.

He reached out to try and help her up, intending to take her to the TARDIS, fix her up and take her away to a safe place, but she simply stood up, reached for a cloth and started cleaning the blood from the floor.

"Clara, Clara, what are you doing?" He asked gently, not wanting to scare her. "You don't have to listen to that man, you don't have to do anything he tells you. Look at what he did to you, that's not right!" He protested, fear in his voice. But Clara simply shook her head.

"He's right though, what sort of person am I to not tell him about my best friend? It was a fair judgement for him to make that I could be seeing someone behind his back, and I deserved this."

Her voice was flat, and nothing showed she was lying, that she doubted her words. She truly believed she deserved what had happened to her.


End file.
